A clarification

On June 28, 2012, The Michigan Daily published an online story reporting that Michigan Hockey recruit Jacob Trouba might not honor his commitment to play for the Wolverines this fall, as earlier announced. The story was attributed to an unnamed Ontario Hockey League Source.

The online story was updated on July 2, 2012, adding that a second unnamed OHL source claimed the Kitchener Rangers had presented the Trouba family with an offer to play for the team.

On July 3, 2012, the Trouba family issued a statement through the University that denied both that the Rangers had made an offer, and that Trouba would not play for Michigan. Because of an editing error that went uncorrected until July 4, the Trouba family’s statement was not published in its entirety, and initially omitted the family’s denial that the Rangers had offered Trouba financial compensation. The Rangers subsequently also vigorously denied that they made such an offer to Trouba.

The denials by the Trouba family and the Rangers were important parts of the story, and should have been reported initially, and in full.

Recently, and subsequent to the publication of the story, on August 10, 2012, Ontario Hockey League Commissioner David Branch — when announcing recruiting sanctions against a different OHL team — stated that the League was aware of the allegations made by an unnamed source quoted in the Daily story, and had directed its enforcement head, Ken Miller, to investigate. Branch is quoted in press reports on August 10 as stating, “His findings are clear that there was no violation by the Kitchener Rangers.”

The Daily clarifies here that, while it was at the time reporting a story of importance to the Michigan sports community, and that its source made the claims reported in the story, if all of the facts had been known to the Daily, including the denials that were not initially reported, and the subsequent OHL investigation that found no violation, the Daily would not have published the story. The Daily has accordingly removed the story from its website.